Official Website
Platform: PlayStation 3

Genre: Pinball

Number of Players: 1 or 2

Aspect Ratio:: 720p

If you’ve read some of my other game reviews you know that I’ve never tried to hide the fact that even in this age of modern, high end video games, I still have a love affair with pinball. There’s just something about knowing that since it’s based on chance, I’m either going to have an outstanding game or one that’s over extremely fast. Pinball has been coming back to video game consoles, not that it ever really went anywhere. There have been the Pinball Hall of Fame Collections which have brought back those retro machines for our enjoyment while other companies have tried to take whatever mascot might be in their camp and craft a pinball game which often hasn’t exactly been overwhelming. ZEN Studios however; it seems that they get it.

ZEN Pinball is classic pinball, but with games that you’ve never played before since until now, they’ve never existed. The developers have gone to the extent of making the games have just the right retro feel to them, and yet they have a look that keeps them modern. The initial download of ZEN Pinball gives players four different tables to choose from, though I don’t think it’s too far-fetched to assume that at some point there will be additional content to give us more tables to select from.

Just like with good pinball machines, what you’ll find in ZEN Pinball has a series of objectives to accomplish in order to increase your score. Each table has a set of rules you can view which will give you more information on exactly what can be done in order to open up another portion of the table. There are drop targets, skill shots, ramps, and everything else that you would expect to find. ZEN has also done something that is incredibly important with a game like this; aside from this being on a console, the game behaves like a pinball machine should, something that I found wasn’t true of a game like Dream Pinball. Things have been kept simple as well; you shoot the ball, you have flippers, and you can shake the machine (just be careful not to tilt it.) The only other additions are the ability to move where the score is located or even hide it completely and you can also change the viewpoint. This will allow you to see the game in the usual overhead style or even get right behind the ball and follow along.

The four different tables all have specific themes to them and the objectives in each match almost perfectly. V8 is designed like a car engine where the objectives include trying to build up the parts, get the nitrous ready, and access other areas of the engine. El Dorado, which actually was the name of a pinball machine designed by Gottlieb back in 1975, has you searching through the jungles of South America for fame and fortune while avoiding traps and the hazards of the wilderness. Shaman also has a jungle theme to it only this time, you use your powers as a shaman to summon the powers of the gods and impress (or strike fear) into the natives. The final table, Tesla, has you working as Tesla’s assistant to build his latest and greatest invention. Not only can you play these games alone but also with other plays, offline or online, and the game continuously keeps track of who is on top of the leaderboards and has a crawl running in the lobby so you can see what the performance of other players is.

ZEN Pinball looks just as impressive as what the Pinball Hall of Fame titles did. If you didn’t know any better (and some might not) you would swear that these were real pinball machines at one point which have been painstakingly recreated for a digital age. They look authentic enough and everything from the sounds, the flashy lights, and the high level of detail seen in most modern pinball machines has been perfectly crafted for the game.

If you’re not familiar with pinball, this is the perfect change to get familiarized with it, though I have managed to find humor in seeing constant posting from gamers trying to find out cheats for the game or a good strategy. Pinball isn’t quite like that. You can’t just sit in the corner and hope to achieve a high score. ZEN Pinball will impress the long time pinball fan as well who might have grown tired of seeing video game characters making their way into poorly designed pinball imitations. This is the breath of fresh air that many have been looking for and at just the right price, ZEN Pinball will keep enthusiasts playing for quite some time while other companies apparently have decided that the next generation of consoles might be just the home their pinball game is looking for.
 

-mike-